Best car subscriptions: March 2024

Want to drive a new car with no long-term commitments and none of the hassle of arranging maintenance or insurance. A car subscription could be the answer.

By Tom Phillips Mar 25, 2024

A car subscription is an extremely convenient way of driving away in a new car with all the costs associated with running a car wrapped up into one fixed monthly payment. Your only responsibility is to add fuel or recharge your car - that's it!

Just Add Fuel was perhaps the best known car subscription service, although Peugeot no longer offers this. However, manufacturers such as Nissan and Renault now have a similar offer to Just Add Fuel. 

A car subscription is unlike owning or leasing a vehicle, in that everything including insurance, tax, servicing and more are bundled into the price.

As maintenance is taken care of, subscriptions also tend to include home delivery and collection of your car, plus the use of a loan or courtesy car so you're always kept on the road. 

A car subscription is also inherently flexible. Most car subscriptions allow you to pause or cancel your commitment after 90 days, or, if your circumstances change, allow you to upgrade or alter the car to which you're subscribing.

As ever, it's worth ensuring that going down the car subscription route is the right choice for you. Additionally, while a car subscription is all-inclusive, it's worth double checking exactly what that means. For example, are you liable if your car gets a puncture? What's the maximum monthly or annual mileage allowance? Or how about any charges for excessive wear and tear?

Before committing to a car subscription, if you're looking for the best deal for a used car using finance, there are plenty of options available with BuyaCar. Once you've found the car you like, simply select it and then scroll to the budget calculator to see just how affordable it could be when compared with your choice of car subscription.

How Car Subscriptions work

Car subscription: the pros

Convenient, predictable, and easy to budget for
Fixed, single monthly cost taking care of maintenance, insurance and more
New cars are often more affordable for young drivers

Car subscription: the cons

Can't shop around for insurance, and no-claims bonus is not added to
Requires black box to monitor driving and availability of subscription models
Restricted to a few manufacturers, on new cars only

Best car subscriptions

Jaguar Pivotal

Jaguar's subscription service is called Pivotal, and allows you to subscribe to either a Jaguar F-Pace SUV or an I-Pace EV for £950 per month, plus a one-off joining fee of £550. The mileage limit is 1,500 miles per month and cars are all in top spec and less than 12 months old. Cars can be changed after six months, but you can stay in your car for longer if it suits your needs.

There's an initial three-month commitment, after which you can give back the car or extend your subscription. The minimum age is 28 and you need to have held a driving license for at least two years and have no more than six penalty points. Insurance for two people, servicing and breakdown cover are all included, and cars must be given back clean with at least a quarter tank of fuel or charge.

Land Rover Pivotal

Land Rover offers a subscription service called Pivotal, and this allows you to subscribe to a number of Land Rover or Range Rover models grouped into tiers. The first tier is called Blue and includes the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque at £950 per month. The second is called Indigo, and includes the Discovery, Range Rover Velar and Defender 90 at £1,250 per month. The third is called Violet, and includes the Range Rover Sport and Defender 110 from £1,550 per month. The top tier is called Ultraviolet and is reserved for the Range Rover and costs from £2,150 per month.

There is a one-off joining fee of £550 for all tiers and home delivery is included. The mileage limit is 1,500 miles per month and cars are all in top spec and less than 12 months old. Cars can be changed after six months, but you can stay in your car for longer if it suits your needs. You can also upgrade sooner for a £500 fee.

There's an initial three-month commitment, after which you can give back the car or extend your subscription. The minimum age is 28 and you need to have held a driving license for at least two years and have no more than six penalty points. Insurance for two people, servicing and breakdown cover are all included, and cars must be given back clean with at least a quarter tank of fuel or charge.

Renault Subscription

Renault offers a number of models on comprehensive and flexible subscriptions. Right now on Renault Subscription, the Renault Clio E-Tech hybrid starts at £484 per month, the Renault Captur E-Tech hybrid costs from £529 per month, and the Renault Arkana hybrid starts at £569 per month. The Renault Austral hybrid stars at £639 per month and the Megane E-Tech EV costs from £699

Renault Subscription is open to UK residents aged 25 and over who have held a full UK/EU Driving Licence for a minimum of two years. Subscriptions have a 750-mile monthly allowance as standard, but this can be increased to 1,800 miles at an additional cost.

Prices include maintenance, insurance, roadside assistance, and taxes. Delivery cost and fuel, diesel exhaust fluid, energy charges and charges, fines or penalties for tolls, speeding, parking or congestion charges are not included.

Nissan Subscription

Nissan currently offers four of its models on a subscription basis. Nissan Subscription is available on the Nissan Juke, starting from £529 per month, the Nissan Leaf EV costs from £595 per month, the Nissan Qashqai costs from £645 per month, and the Nissan Ariya EV starts at £829 per month.

Nissan Subscription is open to UK residents aged 25 and over who have held a full UK/EU Driving Licence for a minimum of two years. Subscriptions are available for three, six, 12 and 24 months, and prices change accordingly. 800 miles per month are included, but this can be increased to 1,000, 1,250, 1,500 or 2,000 per month at an extra cost.

Prices include maintenance, insurance, roadside assistance, and taxes. Home delivery costs an extra £199 and fuel, diesel exhaust fluid, energy charges and charges, fines or penalties for tolls, speeding, parking or congestion charges are not included.

Volvo Subscription

Volvo offers all of its new models with Volvo Subscription as an option, from a three-month minimum to a five-year maximum term as long as you're at least 18 years old. As an example of pricing, the subscription for a Volvo XC40 Recharge starts at £1,009 per month, the XC60 starts at £1,144 per month and the XC90 Recharge from £1,509 per month. Prices increase depending on the mileage allowance you select when you order the car.

Subscriptions include the car's three-year warranty, Google digital services subscription, the ability to switch cars with three months' notice, courtesy cars, roadside assistance, the Volvo Cars app, annual inspections and tyre checks, pick-up and delivery and Volvo's comprehensive Service Plan Plus.

However, it doesn't include insurance, although this can be added to your monthly commitment. 

Does Just Add Fuel still exist?

Despite being something of a pioneer of the car subscription idea, Peugeot no longer offers its Just Add Fuel deal, and has opted not to offer any form of car subscription in favour of more conventional PCP or PCH deals. 

Just Add Fuel was very similar to other car subscriptions offered by Renault, Volvo and JLR, and included a brand new car with three years' insurance, tax, servicing, roadside assistance and warranty included for one monthly payment, which was based around your predicted annual mileage.

What’s the difference between car subscription and PCP?

Unlike PCP, where you're responsible for taking care of your car and insuring it, car subscriptions offer just about the most fuss-free approach to motoring available. Each car subscription varies slightly, but generally most operating costs are covered, including the car's servicing and maintenance, the replacement of tyres when worn through normal use, and - generally - insurance, too.

Subscription requires less commitment, too, with most agreements requiring three months’ notice to change cars or cancel your contract.

Is insurance included in my car subscription?

Car insurance is generally included, and most subscription services only allow you to be insured using their policy, although this doesn't generally count towards your no-claims bonus. This policy does usually include driving for at least two named people, replacement key cover, and driving in the EU as long as you give plenty of notice. There are some exceptions. For example, Jaguar's Pivotal subscription requires you to insure yourself if you've had a car stolen in the past year. 

Am I liable for parking fines?

Sadly yes, you are liable for any parking fines or penalty charge notices incurred while your subscription is active. These are usually paid automatically by the company issuing your car subscription on your behalf, then charged to you in your next monthly invoice.

There is usually an additional admin fee to pay for this, which will be stated in your car subscription contract. The documentation is also usually sent to you in case you wish to challenge the fine with the relevant issuing authority.